Hockey: Senge 'shocked' by poor finishing against minnows Nigeria
Strathmore University coach Meshack Senge gestures on the touch line during their Africa Cup for Club Champions match against Blazers on February 14, 2023 at the City Park Stadium, Nairobi.
What you need to know:
- Kenya aka the Blades were upset 1-0 by minnows Nigeria in one of the semi-final matches played at the University of Pretoria in South Africa
- Johnson Benedicta’s short penalty corner in the third minute was all Nigeria needed to eliminate Kenya who will blame themselves for squandering 11 penalty corners that came their way
- Senge said they had everything going on for them and did everything but failed to score when it mattered the most
Kenya women’s coach Meshack Senge was unable to explain why his side came up short after they failed to convert 11 penalty corners that came their way to end up missing out on a place in the final of the African Hockey Road to 2024 Olympics on Friday.
Kenya aka the Blades were upset 1-0 by minnows Nigeria in one of the semi-final matches played at the University of Pretoria in South Africa.
Johnson Benedicta’s short penalty corner in the third minute was all Nigeria needed to eliminate Kenya who will blame themselves for squandering 11 penalty corners that came their way.
“I can’t put into words what happened. We had everything going on for us in the group stages and during the match and I’m really lost for words. How do you explain the fact that you had 11 short corners and you can’t even convert or have a single attempt. To make matters worse, we have been scoring through penalty corners in our group stage matches and to fail to score through the PC in today’s match is troubling.
“PCs have been our strong scoring points, but I was shocked by how we were feeble in our dragging and delivery,” Senge agonised in a phone call interview with Nation Sport from Pretoria on Friday.
“We were not patient in front of the goal and sometimes we were erratic,” he added.
Senge said they had everything going on for them and did everything but failed to score when it mattered the most.
“We have found ourselves in an awkward position. We will play whoever will lose between South Africa and Ghana in the third play-off on Sunday.
“These are good teams. We have a mountain to climb. The mood in the camp is distraught. The results are extremely painful. We are massively disappointed but we hope these players will come around and give a good performance to whoever we meet and at least finish third. Sometimes, you need luck to win,” said Senge, who coaches Strathmore University men’s and women’s teams that compete in the local league.
The East Africans had topped Pool “B” unbeaten with nine points to set up a semi-final encounter against the West Africans who had finished second in Pool “A” behind leaders South Africa with three points from two matches.
It was a sweet revenge for Nigeria who were defeated by Kenya during the Africa Cup of Nations in Accra, Ghana last year.
